In one of the most stirring descents in Olympic downhill skiing history, Lindsey Vonn ignored the pain in her injured shin, a posible chased down her rival and teammate, who was sitting in first place, and caught up to a lifetime of expectations to become the first American woman to win an Olympic gold medal in downhill.

With an aggressive style and stance she held throughout her run — jaw, hands, knees and hips always angling forward for more speed — Vonn's time of 1 minute 44.19 seconds on the icy, bumpy, treacherous Whistler race course put the Nevada skier in the lead by more than a half second.

(Continue reading in the New York Times)